An archway made completely of silver, gold, white, and black balloons greeted Luhan the moment he stepped inside the party hall his friends’ and family had reserved for his birthday party. He arrived a bit early just so he could help out with the set up but instead he found all the decorations, food, drink, and more done. An entire row of tables lined one wall, trays of his favorite foods lining it from one end to the other. Drinks were available at a table on the end including sodas and alcoholic beverages. He craned his neck to look up at the streamers dangling from the high ceiling and an elegant chandelier.

On the other side of the room, which was big enough to fit over a hundred people, hung a large banner stretching across the room’s width with the words “Happy Birthday Luhan!” written on it. Dozens of round tables encompassed a large square dance floor in the center of the room with a stage before it. Crisp, white table cloths were pristinely draped over the tables, a set of plates and silverware before each chair, and an intricate sort of centerpiece that looked much like angel wings sat on the table.

“Holy ,” Luhan muttered to himself.

“Impressed?” Luhan turned to see his closest childhood friend approaching him with a smug grin stuck on his face.

“Did you plan all this, Kris?” asked Luhan, still somewhat awestruck.

The grin on Kris’s face only grew wider and he crossed his arms, giving a small shrug of the shoulders. “Yeah, but it was no big deal. Elegancy and class comes easily to me.”

“Of course, because you’re the one who initiates the burping contests with Chanyeol and Jongdae. You’re so classy.”

Luhan and Kris both glanced over to the source of the sarcastic remark to find another of their friends walking towards them, a dimpled smile on his face. Kris huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need your sarcasm, Yixing,” he grumbled yet he threw an arm around Yixing’s shoulders anyways and drew the smaller man into him. Yixing responded with a light chuckle, winking at Luhan who cracked a laugh as well.

“I should be given some credit too! Kris isn’t the only one who planned you know,” another voice called out.

“Oh, Baekhyun. I didn’t see you there ‘cause you’re so short,” Kris replied.

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Baekhyun scoffed, brushing his light brown fringe out of his eyes. Another figure appeared behind Baekhyun moments later, almost like a shadow. He s his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.

“Are they making fun of you again?” he whispered into the shorter man’s ear. Luhan saw Baekhyun shiver and laughed to himself.

“D-don’t do that Tao,” Baekhyun mumbled whilst gently tugging Tao’s arms off his waist. “And yes, they were.”

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by not only his friends but the elaborate party decorations, Luhan slipped away from the conversation to search for his family and also a certain someone. It wasn’t hard to find his family because they essentially found him. Luhan smiled, greeted, and hugged his family members and thanked them for their birthday wishes. He nodded along when they praised the beautifully decorated party hall, directing them towards Kris and Baekhyun as the ones responsible for such a grand setting.

Then, he snuck away from them as well. As more and more party guests arrived, Luhan grew increasingly frustrated because it became more and more difficult to spot a certain head of red hair that he was so desperately looking for. He had to fight his way through the throng of old high school classmates wishing him a happy birthday, colleagues from work grinning at him, business associates wearing lavish suits and dresses nodding at him, and more.

Eventually, he freed himself from the crowd and out the room, heading down the hall towards the bathrooms. The boisterous buzz of the party, the beat of the music, he left it all behind and the further he got the clearer his head became.

“Jesus, why did Kris and Baekhyun invite so many people?” Luhan exhaled, expelling the breath he had held during his tough journey to the exit. His body sagged in exhaustion. He wondered how much more of the party he could handle, glancing at his glinting, silver watch to see that only one hour had passed since the start meaning there were still hours to go.

Groaning, Luhan sat down on a bench outside the bathroom doors. He shimmied around, trying to pull his phone out of the pocket of his dress pants. Once his phone was in his hand, he checked for any missed calls and texts finding one lone text from the person he’d been searching for the entire time.

From: Kim Minseok (Baozi) <3

Received: Sat, Apr 20 5:00pm

Sorry, today is really busy at work for some reason. I might be a little late to the party! Don’t go flirting with any guys while I’m not there ;) I love you and happy birthday!

Luhan thought he’d be relieved to hear some word from Minseok but for some reason this felt off. He had this nagging feeling nibbling at the back of his mind that this wasn’t the whole truth, that Minseok’s message might not be telling the truth at all. It worried him to the point where he was about to chew off his bottom lip from anxiety so he called Minseok.

“Hello?”

“Minseok?”

“S-sorry, he’s a b-bit busy at the moment. I can take a message if you’d like.”

“Wait. Who are you?” Luhan felt his heart freeze up and his chest seize uncomfortably. He couldn’t recognize this voice.

“Damn, that feels great!” Now that was a voice Luhan knew. It was Minseok’s and he certainly sounded as if he was enjoying himself. Luhan nearly dropped his phone in surprise, and then he almost broke it in anger.

“I’m-“

“Never mind. I don’t care anymore,” Luhan growled, cutting the mystery man off and ending the call. He seethed in his own rage for a bit, merely sitting on the bench with his phone clenched tightly in his hands to keep them from trembling.

“Luhan hyung? What are you doing out here missing out on your own party?”

“Oh, Sehun…” Luhan tried to smile at the younger man but it must have come out looking awkward. It felt weird to try to smile then.

“What’s wrong?” Sehun took a seat beside him, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. “Is it Minseok hyung?”

“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter,” Luhan replied, “Let’s just go back to the party.”

“Well, I’m going to the bathroom but you can go ahead then. And if there’s something up, just talk to me,” Sehun said and he gave Luhan a small smile before going into the bathroom.

Still a bit angry and a little queasy, Luhan staggered back to the party. He prepared himself, fixing his tie, straightening his shirt, and then entered the room again.

Immediately, he was into the crowd as people cheerfully asked him how he was, if he was enjoying the party, what it felt like to be twenty-three. He answered as best he could, saying yes he was fine, yes the party was great, and being twenty-three was the same as being twenty-two.

He was rescued when Kris hooked his arm through his and dragged him across the dance floor to a table on the other side of the room reserved for him and his closest friends. There were three empty seats, one being for Kris and the other two for Luhan and Minseok. Luhan bit his cheek to keep from grimacing at the sight of the vacant chair beside his, sitting down and feeling his skin crawl.

“Geez, nice job running off and disappearing from your own birthday party,” Kris muttered, not particularly angry but annoyed.

“Yeah, we were worried that someone had kidnapped you,” Baekhyun added, grinning.

“Well I’m here now,” Luhan said. He scanned the faces around him, seeing Kris, Yixing, Baekhyun, Tao, and his other friends; Chanyeol, Jongdae, Jongin, Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Sehun who had returned from the restroom surprisingly fast. His eyes fell upon the seat right next to him, empty, lonely, and he tore his gaze away from it.

Clapping his hands together, Luhan plastered a smile on his face. “Man, it’s been a while since all of us have met up together like this,” he said nostalgically.

“Oh come on, don’t start getting sappy,” groaned Jongdae. “I’m too drunk to get sentimental and I don’t have time to think of the past.”

“You are not drunk,” Jongin retorted, rolling his eyes.

“I am!”

“No Chanyeol, you’re always like this.”

“Am not!”

“What are you, twelve?”

“Shut up, Kris!”

Luhan watched the volley of words flying from each person at the table, Chanyeol and Jongdae blabbering the most, and he sat back to observe. This was how things always turned out whenever Luhan and his friends gathered together. Everyone spoke at once, multiple conversations occurred around the whole table and yet by some miracle or maybe telepathy, they could all discern what each conversation was about, what everyone was saying, and how to answer.

“What? Kyungsoo, you’re engaged?” exclaimed Junmyeon. The banter stopped and heads turned towards a flustered Kyungsoo who was trying to hide his face behind his hands.

“Y-yes,” he mumbled. “Don’t look at me.”

“Hyung, why didn’t you tell me? I thought I was closest to you!” Jongin whined. He was sat on Kyungsoo’s left and he stared at him wide-eyed. Then, he grabbed his shoulder and shook him back and forth. “Were you gonna keep it a secret?” he asked while throttling him.

“N-no, I w-wasn’t,” Kyungsoo stuttered. He wrestled Jongin’s hand off him and shot him a quick look.

“Who’s the lucky lady? Or man?” Baekhyun asked with a wink.

Clearing his throat, Kyungsoo avoided all eye contact. “It’s Jimin,” he mumbled. His cheeks were ruby red as the rest of the table cheered and whooped loudly.

“Wait, Jimin? Gil Jimin? The girl you had a crush on in high school?” asked Kris in disbelief. Kyungsoo nodded. “Damn, I’m impressed.”

“When’s the wedding?” asked Yixing.

“And were you planning on inviting us?” Jongin cut in.

“It’s going to be in autumn and yes, you guys are invited. We still have a lot of planning to do though,” responded Kyungsoo.

It was impressive to see that the conversation was actually focused on a sole topic and that everyone was participating in it, Luhan thought. He was happy for Kyungsoo and a little bit relieved that everyone’s attention wasn’t all on him. Sure he was the birthday boy but it didn’t mean all things must gravitate around him that day. Although he did wish that one person would actually be here.

His phone went off and he saw a new text message from Minseok. Debating whether or not he should look at it, Luhan eventually gave in.

From: Kim Minseok (Baozi) <3

Received: Sat, Apr 20 6:20pm

Are you mad at me? My co-worker said you sounded mad on the phone. Please don’t be mad at me. :( I wish I could talk to you right now but I’m in a meeting. I love you! <3

Luhan glared at his phone, wishing lasers could shoot out from his eyes and disintegrate it. He furiously typed in a response.

To: Kim Minseok (Baozi) <3

No. I’m not mad. You had better come right over here after that meeting. And explain to me what exactly ‘felt good’.

Satisfied, Luhan sent the message and waited for Minseok’s reply. He didn’t have to wait long.

From: Kim Minseok (Baozi) <3

Received: Sat, Apr 20 6:22pm

You are mad at me. :/ I’m sorry, okay? I’ll speed through the streets to get to you. And I don’t know what you’re talking about, sorry. :P

Luhan could see straight through Minseok’s lies and it infuriated him to no end. He’d hoped that being straightforward about it would make him cough up the truth but no, that wasn’t the case. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and sighed deeply.

“What’s up, birthday boy?” asked Tao with one eyebrow arched up.

“Nothing,” Luhan sighed.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while, but where’s Minseok?” Luhan had to force himself not to send Junmyeon a deadly glare for asking that and making the fact that Minseok wasn’t there all the more prevalent.

“Right, it’s been nearly two hours since the party started and he hasn’t shown up,” added Sehun as he casually wrapped his arm around Junmyeon’s shoulders. Junmyeon’s cheeks turned rosy and he tried shrugging Sehun off but he wouldn’t relent, squeezing Junmyeon’s shoulder gently.

“Maybe he’s cheating on you,” said Chanyeol but that earned him a smack in the head from Kris.

“Don’t say that, you bastard,” he hissed. Chanyeol pouted and rubbed the back of his head before solemnly nodding.

“I’m sure he’s in an important meeting or something,” offered Kyungsoo. He smiled warmly at Luhan in a sorry attempt to placate him, to which Luhan was grateful but it did nothing to ease his mind.

Jongdae slammed his fist against the table causing everyone to jump. “Well, he’s an idiot for skipping out on his boyfriend’s birthday party for some stupid business meeting.”

“You’re one to talk. You skipped my dance competition just because you were too tired after seeing the premiere of The Hobbit,” Jongin retorted.

“Come on, you know I love you,” Jongdae replied with a cheesy grin. Jongin scoffed and pushed his face away.

And everything derailed again as numerous conversations erupted around the table, the mystery of a missing Minseok all but forgotten. The only one who was left to remember was Luhan. He had difficulty listening to the others because Minseok was niggling at the back of his brain.

The rest of the party happened to Luhan in a sort of illusory state, as if what was going on at the time wasn’t real. Or he was the one who wasn’t real. The clock kept ticking while he sat in the prison made of his thoughts.

His birthday cake had been brilliant, bright, burning before him. He remained silent as everyone sang Happy Birthday to him, he blew the candles out in a robotic way, in one go. He cut the cake slowly, lifting his arm, moving it, bringing it down, and then repeating. Luhan became a series of movements rather than a human being acting of their own accord. Minseok had stolen his mind without even being there.

When the party was over, Luhan was forced to leave the hall without helping to clean up. His friends had ushered him out, telling him that Minseok was probably waiting at home for him. Baekhyun had even bluntly said that Minseok must be lying on his bed with roses scattered around the room. Tao had hit him on the forehead and muttered something about Baekhyun being a ert. He left them like that, bantering and quarreling amongst themselves as they went to check on how the clean-up was going.

Before he left, Luhan decided to call Minseok one last time to see if he really was at their apartment.

“Luhan! I am so sorry that I missed the party! I didn’t know how long the meeting was going to last,” Minseok immediately exclaimed.

“T-that’s alright. Are you at home?”

“Yeah, are you coming home right now?” replied Minseok, a little too cheerfully.

“Hey, I’m leaving now. But man, that really did feel good. I gotta come over again sometime.”

Luhan froze when he heard that voice that had answered earlier that day. “Minseok, who is that?”

“Shh, shut up. Go home already,” Minseok whispered although Luhan could hear perfectly fine. “It’s nothing, baby. Just the TV.”

“Don’t lie to me you bastard,” Luhan growled,” I heard him.”

“I’m not lying, it was really the TV,” Minseok said.

“I’m hanging up,” Luhan stated with finality. He hung up and threw his phone onto the passenger seat, taking one deep breath while gripping the steering wheel tightly in his hands. It took a few minutes for him to calm down enough to think rationally and not fly down the street at 80mph. Simmering furiously, Luhan began to drive home.

On his way home, Minseok called him four times and sent him fifteen text messages. Luhan had some pretty good guesses as to what the calls and texts were about. They were most likely more lies and excuses that Minseok came up with to please Luhan. They wouldn’t work. Maybe on any other day, but not on his birthday.

When Luhan arrived at their apartment, he opened the door to be greeted by darkness and an eerie silence. He flipped the lights on and noticed Minseok’s shoes were there and his slippers were gone. Shutting the door behind him, Luhan cautiously walked through the apartment.

“Minseok? I’m home,” he called out.

In the kitchen, two empty wine glasses sat on the counter, a bottle of wine in between them left unopened. A small birthday cake was on the kitchen table, only half the candles stuck in there while the others lay scattered around it. A present wrapped in shiny silver wrapping paper rested right beside the cake, refracting the light from the entranceway. It looked as if this had been thrown together in a rush only to be interrupted by something or someone.

“Minseok?” Luhan yelled again.

Warily making his way towards the bedroom, Luhan crept through the apartment silently. He gently pushed open the door. The lights were off but he could make out the shadow of a figure lying on the bed. Luhan let out a breath of relief and switched the lights on.

“Jesus, Minseok. Why didn’t you answer me?” he began, “Now explain to me w-“

Luhan gaped at the sight before him. Minseok lay motionless on the bed, eyes closed, chest not moving, and the unmistakable sight of red bleeding out onto the sheets.

“Minseok!” Luhan ran over and brought Minseok’s body into his arms. “Minseok, wake up!”

He frantically searched Minseok’s body for any sign of a wound, lifting up his shirt and running his hands over his legs. His mind had been so driven with panic that the subtle rise and fall of Minseok’s chest went unnoticed. It finally hit him when Minseok’s hands shot up and gripped Luhan’s wrist, turning his world upside-down for a moment as Minseok switched their positions.

Now, Luhan lay sprawled on the bed beneath a deviously smirking Minseok. He gasped, surprised, and stared up at Minseok.

“Gotcha!” Minseok cheered. “Doesn’t it feel good?”

“W-what? What the hell is going on?” Luhan stammered.

“You don’t feel it?” Minseok said. “Just think. Doesn’t the bed feel different?”

Knowing Minseok well enough to understand that he wouldn’t stop asking the same thing until Luhan figured it out, Luhan paused. Now that he mentioned it, the bed did feel a bit different. It was more comfortable, softer, and fluffier than before. Luhan vaguely remembered complaining to Minseok that the mattress was getting old and stiff, hurting his back. He never expected Minseok to buy a new one.

“You got a new mattress?” Luhan asked, blinking up at Minseok who still hovered over him.

“Yep, do you like it?”

“Wait, is that what you were talking about before on the phone?” Things were starting to make a bit more sense but Luhan needed explanations now.

“Hmm…oh yeah. My friend from work helped me move it into the apartment and get rid of the old mattress. I was testing it out again when you called,” Minseok replied. He smiled so innocently and sweetly that Luhan couldn’t stop himself from leaning up and pecking his lips. Minseok blinked once before smiling wider.

Luhan couldn’t believe how stupid he was for assuming things but he also thought it was Minseok’s fault as well. He could’ve said something about it instead of lying about being in a meeting.

“I’m sorry for lying about the meeting though,” Minseok apologized softly, leaning down so his breath tickled Luhan’s nose. “I just didn’t want you to know about my surprise.”

“…I guess I’ll forgive you this once,” Luhan whispered, cursing his mind for forgetting his anger so easily when Minseok was so close to him. “Now, let’s go have that wine and cake.”

Minseok’s face split into a mischievous grin and his eyes glinted with a look Luhan couldn’t discern. He rolled his hips into Luhan’s, causing Luhan to groan, and lowered his head down so his lips ghosted over Luhan’s ear.

Minseok murmured into Luhan’s ear, “I think we should break in the new mattress first, don’t you?”

---

A/N: I didn't have time to fix any mistakes OTL So sorry about that. I'll do that later. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this! (And yes, I know the chapter title isn't grammatically correct but I had to do it that way) ^^ Happy Belated Birthday Luhan! <3